Experimental drug shields nerve cells from damage caused by ALS

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, or ALS, received widespread awareness in the summer of 2014 thanks to an Ice Bucket Challenge. Millions of people participated in the challenge, drenching themselves in ice cold water to bring visibility to this devastating neurodegenerative disease and generate charitable donations for research.

Xinglong Wang, senior author of the studyWe asked a simple question that had never been tested: is there one specific part of TDP-43 that's causing the harm, something a drug could switch off without disturbing the rest?"

"The same TDP-43 pathology is implicated in several other neurodegenerative diseases," Wang said. "If future studies show this approach works in those diseases as well, it could eventually benefit a much larger patient population."

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University of Arizona

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